|
|
|
- Washington Area Impala Lovers -
NAISSO: Mid-Atlantic Chapter
National Association of '94-96 Impala SS Owners
- P a s t - E v e n t s -
Updated 6/23/99
"I got me a car and it's as
big as a whale..."
- P a s t - E v e n t s -
Saturday April 17, 1999 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
-- Rain or Shine
3rd Annual
Spring Fling
Centennial Park,
Howard County, MD
For more info contact:
Martin Mogavero
mmogaver@erols.com
Weekend of October 9-11, 1998
Super Chevy Show
Where: Virginia Motorsports Park
WAILers, NAISSOers, 9C1ers and all Chevy enthusiasts,
It was a GREAT weekend at SCS! The weather couldn't have been nicer! We did win the Club Participation award!! But I gotta tell ya, it was close! I kept running over to the registration tent checking the numbers! There was a club "Country Cruisers" that was REAL close in numbers to ours. I kept running around asking everyone if they signed the book. I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts!! I must have asked everyone 2 or 3 times. But I always found someone that had forgotten, so it worth the effort! We ended up with 27!! I think they had 26.
Several people took home awards, but I didn't think to write them down, so I can't remember them all. Those that attended/won will have to help me out! Some of the winners were Lennie Dolphin, Marty Mogavero, Rich Perkins, Mike Kender, Rick Norris, Al Riggan, and others.
A couple notes of interest. They have changed the way they group Impalas. They are no longer grouped by year, or color, OR even just Impalas. This year we were in the 90-96 Big Car group. There were no other B-cars there between 90-93, so it was just Impala in our case, but it could have included the others. Also a change to the "stock" class. The only way you can stay in stock class is the car must be as it left the factory. Any dealer add-on's (as simple as pin-striping) or packages (like Camaro SS, from SLP) puts the car in Street (or Modified, depending on any other additions).
Louis Pascucci
Sunday Sept. 6, 1998
75/80 WAIL Fall
Impala Shoot Out and Show
Where: 75/80 Drag-a-way, Monrovia, MD
WAIL attended in full force to the 75/80 Dragway for the 13th Annual Fall Old Nostalgia Drags and Show n' Shine day in Monrovia, MD. This strip has given us two Impala Club Days a year.
Attending were...
Scott Ballard
new WAIL KING!!
Frank Benvenga Runner-up Show'n'Shine
- Street Class
Ron Brown
Gary Cardarelli (previous WAIL King)
Clyde Coble
runner-up to the WAIL King
Lennie Dolphin
Pete Donald
Bruce & Denise Gordon
Jeff & S.O. Gatcha
Paul Kemlage (previous
WAIL King)
Mike Kender (ISSCONE) Best of Show'n'Shine - Street Class
John Kostro
Ray & Angie Lopez
Per Moe
Marty Mogavero
Rick Norris
Bud & Tammy & Sarah Parlette
Louis & Mary Pascucci
Ron Post
Rex Rexach
Tim Spraguer
Lyndon Wesson
- 2 other fellows that I did not get names for, sorry... one a
BBB with a very large driver
What a day!! As usual WAILers definitely *DO* know how to participate in an event and have some 'balls out' fun.
First and foremost, MUCH thanks
goes out to Paul Kemlage (previous WAIL King) who made the day
run so smoothly for all as our WAIL rep at 75/80. I think he
lives there as his second home
Most raced and had several opportunites for time trials in the morning before ETK bracket racing started in the afternoon.... some just did the show n'shine. We had our own lane and Impala's raced all at the same time until the lane was cleared for each elimination. The hot temps of the day produced some rather disappointing ET's for most everybody, but the bracket racing had some good elimination runs ending up at around 4:15 with Scott Ballard winning (our new WAIL King), Cyde Coble as first runner-up and Per Moe as 2nd runner-up. CONGRATS guys!!
For the Show n'Shine we had a street class. Mike Kender, all the way down from Connecticut, took home winning honors with his hood-scooped and custom painted 96 DCM, Frank Benvenga was runner-up with an engine bay full of polished billet aluminum everywhere and a very well detailed car.
Something new this year that was really fun to see... the significant other (S.O.) ladies and wives tried their hand at the qtr mile - Angie Lopez, Denise "swaybar" Gordon, and Paul Kemlage's S.O. (sorry Paul I don't know her name). You should have heard them screaming...aaaah what fun!
Probably the best (if not the
funniest) part of the day though was at the end. When the gals
started a little ribbing and jibing and resurrected the idea of a
WAIL photo calendar. And I mean a calendar not with the poster
girl shots -- but with the *boys* doing the posing. Lyndon
inspired us all on, as he went first and removed his top to show
us some beefcake. Then Jeff "Kato" Gotcha showed us his
firm "Mr April" bod
To end the day the photo
shooting continued as we all formed a large semi-circle with the
cars out on the grass and leaned on the hoods for I think a
cajillion shots with 5 different cameras while the picture takers
stood on top of Rex Rexach's S10 pickup. Hey, nice leg spread
Tammy, or was that S.O. Gatcha, were you afraid you were gonna
fall off that truck?
All in all, a great day, many
MANY laughs and good fellowship, and good racing (except for the
hot temps). I think all the brewskies that Gary C. donated might
have helped a little bit at the end there
Later....and Happy SS motoring ya'all. See ya at the next event!
Ron "rest stop" Post
NAISSO #718
WAIL MD/DC Reg Dir
Washington Grove MD
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
PS. I planned that 360 spin-out on the grass as I exited NOT).
Sunday July 5, 1998
California Cruisin' Pig
Roast
Where: Casa de Taylor's in the
village of Catlett, Virginia
Fee: $5
Mailto:california.transplants@erols.com
Custom Designed Gifts and Gift Baskets
Jean and Dennis Taylor
Phone: 540-788-9330
Fax: 540-788-1765
Sunday June 14, 1998
Impala SS Drags
Where: 75-80 Drag Way, Monrovia, MD
Fee: $15?
Please find directions to 75-80
dragway at their website... http://www.7580dragway.com/
And you can see updates at my little personal web site.... http://www.oocities.org/MotorCity/Speedway/1611/
Looking forward to the Picnic and then the racing.
Karl Ellwein mailto:karl.ellwein@radix.net
Saturday May 30, 1998
2nd Annual WAIL SPRING SHOW
& PICNIC
WHERE: Woodward Park (Post Plantation)
in Washington Grove, MD - large playground areas for the kids,
bring em
TIME: 1pm 'till dusk
The turn out was great for the 2nd Annual WAIL Spring Show & Picnic. I think we had about about 42 cars out there on-the-green in Woodward Park MD. The weather cooperated for sure, but maybe it was a little too hot.
We all missed a lot of the old guard WAIL founding members who couldn't make it, but everyone got to meet a whole lot of new faces and members who had never made one of these events and who were "newbies" to WAIL - that made up for not seeing the "oldies".
As usual, we all had Impalaitis fever on the show field sharing info and modifications galore among all the cars. We even had an improptu FBI agent show up complete with his red & blues behind the grill of his 9C1. Unfortunately WAIL's own 110" stretch DCM limo couldn't make it for all to see.
Best part of the day was the catered meal by George Stark's (retired Redskins #74 Head Hog Super Bowl era) Head Hog Barbeque firm, with the Hog Heaven menu. I think everyone enjoyed it. Man-O-man was that a good recipe or not!!
Only mishap of the day was when Shawn from HHBBQ pulled a lid off a can of Sterno and it expolded in his face (happens rarely), took him over to the house to flush his eyes out, everyone waited for the meal to be served till he got back. He was OK.
Much thanks again to our sponsors for the day:
Jon Thorne - portable
electricity
R Eliz Post - big 20'x30' party tent
Karl Ellwien - general expenses
Post Siding Inc - general expenses
And our doorprize donors:
Gary Cardarelli/Rockmont Chevrolet -
Impala SS jacket
Martin Mogavero - red plastic grease
zirk fittings for all attendees
Kevin Headlee - Mobil 1 keychains for
everyone and a supply of synthetic lube/oil
My mother, R. Eliz Post, arguably the oldest 94-96 Impals SS owner at 85 yrs old, finally got to make it to one of these Woodward Park events.. she had a great time and felt welcome by all you nice WAIL folk.
All in all, a great day. Most
everyone bugged out by 5:00pm....a few of us sat underneath the
tent until dusk and shot the s**t till twilight.
WAILers are the best!!
Happy SS motoring everyone!
SSee ya next time...
Ron Post NAISSO #718
WAIL MD/DC Reg Dir
Washington Grove Md
Event Organizer
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
Saturday October 25, 1997
WAIL DYNO DAY
Where: MT Engineering, Manassas, VA
WAIL's first Dyno Day, at MT ENGINEERING in Manassas VA on a portable Dynojet monster sitting in their shop was a blast, literally!! .... for the eyes, the ears, and other body parts I won't mention. Watching your own car or anyone else's for that matter spinning up to over 120 mph while sitting still and strapped down like a caged beaSSt (and not to mention 7 ft up in the air!!) is an experience to behold!! For those who weren't there you missed some thrills.
The automatics (all the Impalas
MT Engrg's staff was very capable and easy to work with. After some initial snafus in the early am "pushing" the first Impala up the ramps (they go up backwards!) due to the previous overnight rain and morning drizzle, the day dried out, and the cars were backed up the ramps with relatively little trouble and the cars (including the low riders) suffered no damage whatsoever, just a check ABS light coming on in the one FW drive car that was tested and that was only temporary.
Rev limiters were hit on a lot of the Impalas as they shifted thru the gears on the dyno, but it seemed to happen on mostly the stock PCM cars and did not happen on the cars with HPP programming for some reason... but this was no big deal - all owners confirmed that their cars do NOT hit the rev limiters at shift points on the street or track, w or w/o HPP....this seems to be a characteristic of the easy spinning conditions on the dyno drums or some other anomaly not yet determined, but does not affect peak hp/torque data, and certainly does not damage the engines at all (that's why there are rev limiters there in the first place after all).
Each car tested cost only $33. We rented their shop for the entire Saturday and finished up at 4:00 pm - it was a loooong but enjoyable day - not only for us but also for the MT Engrg staff, which said they had more fun working with our WAIL group, and it was much less tiring than they're normally used to doing in a normal day....big smiles ;-) from all. They did a bang up job, thank you Mike T and to your techs.
Everyone received a Horsepower/Torque Certification and these will establish baseline figures to go from, while several go thru wintertime hibernation and further modifications and simple tuning.
Conversion factors (recommended to us by Mike Thompson, MT Engrg owner) for drivetrain losses, to convert rear wheel horsepower to flywheel horsepower, from his portable Dynojet dyno were -- 1.27 (27%) for the Impalas, and 1.17-1.19 (17%-19%) for the manual trans cars. These are always estimated figures, and are not "gospel".
It was a great way for all WAILers to
get together again after our recent SCS Petersburg bash, and was
an opportunity to meet with some new members and others who weren't
at SCS or past events - thanks to all those that attended the day
while your rides were being put through their paces - they all
survived very well, hopefully you did too
WAIL will be attempting to collect the complete data files from each car tested along with the much simpler HP & Torque @ RPM Certification figures for posting to the WAIL website, and will also be coordinating with HAIL to establish a possible national database "Dyno Run Depository" as suggested recently by Ed Runnion, keeper of the HAIL website. WAIL data will be collected by Jon Thorne (thank you Jon!!) and forwarded to John Latrobe for a page on the WAIL website. Jon will handle coordination with HAIL.
Please send your data to the WAIL list (or Jon Thorne at... mailto:jthorn@clark.net.. if you're not on the list) in the format he suggested:
1) Send a message to the WAIL list
with the following information:
a) Year
b) Color (if you want
to help prove BLACK pulls best!)
c) Model - if other
than Impala
d) Certified peak HP
and Torque
e) List of
performance mods
If you know how to send the data from your floppy disk, send it directly to Jon Thorne <jthorn@clark.net>.
Ron Post NAISSO #718
WAIL - Event Organizer
Washington Grove MD
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
Saturday October 11, 1997 - Sunday October 12,
1997
Super Chevy Show
Where: Petersburg, Virginia (near
Richmond)
Big Car 1996 Stock
Runners-up: Kenny-Marsha Duncan Stafford,
VA
Glen Morton Mechanicsville, VA
Gil Driver Gaithersburg, MD
Winner: Charlie Lowery Petersburg, VA
Big Car 1995 Stock:
Runners-up: Aaron Crawford III
Charlottesville, VA
Ron Post Washington Grove, MD
Winner: Scott Hollenbeck Burke, VA
Big Car 1994-1995 Street:
Runners-up: Leonard Dolphin Washington
DC
Eric Doersch Chestefield, VA
Dan Lowman Elizabeth City, NC
Winner: Marvin Davis Sanford, NC
Big Car 1996 Other Colors Street:
Runners-up: Mike Irving Col. Hgts., VA
Bob Nicks Carry, NC
Dan Nelson Severn, MD
Winner: Joe Sanchez Brick, NJ
Big Car 1996 Black Street:
Runners-up: Paul Perugini Waterbury, CT
Martin Mogavero Ellicott, MD
Jim Paulsgrove Chapel Hill, NC
Winner: Richard Perkins Richmand, VA
Big Car 1994-96 Modified:
Runners-up: Grant F. Boss Gaithersburg,
MD
Leonard L. Bender Alexandria, VA
Raymond Lopez Woodbridge, VA
Winner: Mike Kender Fairfield, CT
----->
Scott A. Hollenbeck (mailto:hollenbe@east.xsis.xerox.com)
Saturday September 20, 1997
WAIL Fall Fling
Where: WOODWARD PARK in historic town of
WASHINGTON GROVE, MD
Time: 1 pm - Dusk
Much thanks and KUDOS to ALL the WAILers, BEASSTers, POSSIers, NAISSOers and other Impalers and enthusiasts that attended the 9/20 WAIL FALL FLING - what a great group of people if I say so myself. Do we all know how to have a good time or what ;-). We had 36 (would've been 40, 4 had to cancel) cars on-the-green with over 125 people, and the weather... well, if you just waited till mid-morning (geeez!) it was GREAT! Was especially nice to see the melding of the newbies and the oldies, and as Dennis said, "Our planet could use more of this stuff, yes?!". The day wound up being sort of "one gigantic outdoor living room with unlimited parking next to your chair" (who said that?). Sorry I didn't get to meet and talk more with some of you, it WAS a hectic day, but way too much fun for sure.
So First... MARK YOUR 1998 CALENDARS!! - for the 2nd Annual WAIL Spring Show & Picnic, same dates as the first one - May 30 (June 7 rain date).
Second... some off-the-cuff thank you's to:
Gary Cardarelli and Jon Thorne for
coming over at 0800 to help set up the tent, even though we set
it upside down (much better than the rubber side up though
And oh yes, much thanks to my devoted Impaler wife Karen, and Son Michael (or is that Michaelson) for their efforts, and putting up with my mid life impalaitis obsession.
Regrets to those who had to cancell (not
by choice, mind you)... Eric Doersch whose grandfather died, Mike
Viellette got paged into work for the entire day, Rob Ziolkowski
had to attend to loved ones, Wendy Kursch with the infamous WAIL
DCM Stretch Limo and also Lyndon Wesson couldn't weasel out of
other commitments, and Fred Diven was doing his civic duties with
the Scouts (we missed the bullhorn Fred
Third...our SPONSORS of the day:
VICTORY VANS CORP - the 20x30 beautiful
tent
JON THORNE - our electricity
POST SIDING INC - burgers and dogs from
Murrys Steaks
GRANT BOSS - Commercial grill &
charcoal
HANAGANS II - dessert
Our doorprize DONORS:
CRISWELL CHEV PRO SHOP - $50 Gift Cert
ROCKMONT CHEV PRO SHOP - Impala SS
Jacket
DRI WASH N'GUARD/ MICHAEL SMALLEY - (2)
$40 Starter Kits
MALLORY BILLET ALUMINUM - (6) $50 Gift
Cert
ROLLINS TRUCK LEASING (Gary Cardarelli)
- Fall Jacket
JON THORNE - SSuperstore Corvette Dress
Kit
MARYLAND PERFORMANCE - (4) T Shirts
- $50 Gift Cert
As usual, we had everything from bone
stockers to rare 6-spd supercharged beassts, and everything in
between, along with a little nitrous added to the mix for
excitement. Harv Simpson got "maybe 10 good minutes" of
good edited footage (he was getting over a recent flu bug) - next
time he said he would like to do 'interviews', but on Saturday
most seemed a little shy (that must have been before 'da jello'
started to circulate
There was much general buzzing about between the cars...Diacom loading on lap tops, diagnosing trouble codes on those pesky OBDII '96s, sharing of the latest mods underhood, underchassis and in the cabin...improptu soldering of wiring harnesses, etc etc - and even a birthday sing for one of our original members. Time flies when your having fun.
Since I have to get back to my 'other' work desk to pay the mortgage etc, and my creative writing skills are still jello'd out, I'll quickly close by paraphrasing from an email I got off list... "It is really cool to see people with such a varied background and set of interests hanging together because of a car." Amen! this is simply and truly what Impalaitis is all about folks.
Y'all drive gently out there now -- and keep the rubber side down, and keep it down hard!
Happy SS motoring all... SSee ya in Petersburg!!
Ron Post NAISSO #718
WAIL Event Organizer
Washington Grove MD
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
Saturday July 12, 1997 (April 12 was a rain-out)
Impala SS Shoot-out
Where: Old Bridge Township
Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ
Time: Racing starts at 2:30pm until
around 11:00pm, Eliminations at 7:00pm
Cost: $15 to race, $7 to watch
This event is being sponsored by Street Legal Performance (SLP) and ESP Custom Vehicles, and will be covered by Hi-Tech Performance Magazine.
ESP Custom Vehicles is donating 2 Gift Certificates to the POSSI to be raffled off. The gift certificates will be for $150 & $75, good towards the purchase of anything that ESP sells. They are also putting up cash towards the prizes to be awarded to the various class race winners.
Street Legal Perfomance (SLP) is putting up 2 prizes to be awarded to race winners AND a set of SLP Headers and Installation kit to be raffled off.
*****WRITE-UP by Karl Ellwein:
Greetings WAIL'ers
Paul K. posted a request for a rundown on the weekend activities. Congratulations Paul on the gain in the points battle. It looks like only me and Bob (BobSS) Adams went to the Englishtown Impala Cup as WAIL reps. Pete had to work late and "The Pipe" was ??.
The Englishtown Shootout was a very mild club get-to-gether of about 15-20 Impalas. Most were from the POSSI. Only 2 WAIL'ers. Some NY'ers. We did bracket eliminations. Bob and I both eliminated ourselves in the 1st round. Me=red light. Bob=Red light and break out. The overall winner wound up being Jim Orr. The "Cup" was very nice. SLP gave Jim a $100 gift cert. for SLP stuff. The raffle prizes went to lucky people. (I already had all the stuff SLP was giving away) :-)
But BobSS got some great time slips! He is running 14.5x at 93.xmph with minimal mods. He has AS&M air intake/Borla Muffs with Walker pipes (I think)/S-10 Converter/MSD6A. Thats IT! We ran two "Heads up" against each other at Englishtown. Those two races were the most fun 1/4mile runs for me. In the 1st race...Bob in the left lane (traction lane)...me in the right. Bob gets the 2.027sec. 60' and I spin a bit for a 2.241sec. 60'......He is one fender ahead.....he stays exactly 1 fender ahead all the way to the big end. I have the same mods as BobSS PLUS Headers/Ram-Air/aluminum drive shaft/March pulleys/TransGo/about 200# less weight. He has 96 Imp with 10Kmiles. I have early 95 Imp with 54K miles. BobSS et = 14.556@92.65 quickSS et = 14.804@92.50. temp. 90F and 35% RH.
That was fun but later that night Bob talks the Track Master into a 'timed' run.
quickSS in left lane (traction lane)....BobSS in right lane....I get a typical S-10 launch for 2.001sec. 60' and BobSS gets tire spin 2.215sec. 60'.....(also my rt = .572 and Bob = 1.011)....now BobSS is at least a whole Impala length behind me. I never see him untill he gives me the big thumbs up in the break down area. I'm Pumped with joy for seeing the 14.467et on the board. My personal best. Bob runs a 14.721 BTW which would have been 14.521 with traction. Temp.= 84F and 49%RH That was too much fun.
We also went to the Maple Grove PA NMCA meet on Sat. and couldnt stay for qualifying which was at 4pm. BobSS was in EFI K class (15.00) and I was in EFI J class (14.50). I could only get 14.509 et in time trials but Bob was running 14.7xet and had a chance for a class record I think. Oh well. maybe next year. By the Way. Maple Grove was GLUE. No wheel spin was possible. Neither Bob nor I had 60' times over 2.000 sec. I fell in love with Maple Grove.
You'all ought'ta check out the NMCA (National muscle Car Association). We had a great time checking out Nick Scavo and Tony Christian and Pat Mussi and don't get me for spelling. We saw Christians very first run in his f-body Pro-Street. 7.2x et. We also saw about 20 HEMI's (Nostalgia).
Great weekend. My car is running better now after the hard race weekend.
Racing is good for you. Have a nice Impala SS day.
karl.ellwein@radix.net 95ImpalaSS
*RamAir*MSD*Flowmaster*HPP*TransGo*S10
Converter*March Pulleys*
*Aluminum Drive Shaft*Hotchkis Lowers*AS&M
Headers*LT4 Wires*
IRC--"quickSS" 14.46@92.86
Sunday June 15, 1997
75-80 Dragway Impala Club Day
Where: 75-80 Dragway, Monrovia,
MD
Time: 9:00am
*****WRITE-UP by Ron Post:
What a great day for WAIL and it was Fathers Day to boot!!! We had 16 cars turn out for the Impala Club Day Shoot Out at 75-80 Dragway and it was also the tracks' Old Nostalgia Day with a Show & Shine Event - saw quite an array of machines while we all maybe got a little too much sun (ouch!) - no complaints though - for ONCE this year we finally had some great weather for a planned meet!!
ENTERED WERE:
Paul Kemlage still KING OF WAIL with
a 3' tall to trophy prove it!!!
John Latrobe racer-x Runner Up
Ron Post gettin tired of seeing Pauls
tailights
Pete Donald my trophy should have gone
to Pete, he broke out by .06
Ray Lopez took home a few trophys as
usual
Louis Pascucci same as above
Randy Stone turned in some great first
ever times
Mike Irving some excellent et's for his
96
Tim Spraguer had a blast runnin down the
track
Jon Thorn virgin runs on the Paxton....wheelspin...
Martin Mogavero played with the shifter
on one run and hit the rev ltmr
Bob Adams the S10 torque converter WORKS
folks!!
SPECTATING WITH THEIR CARS WERE:
C & J Shukla
Mike Veillette
Michael Minor
Charles Gerdes
Sorry, if I missed someone or left something out, I'm sure you'll let us know.
Funny thing happened at the 7 car Best Buy Caravan -- we had a 'phantom mobile'. Whoever got there first, naturally parked next to the 96 BBB parked right in front of the store on the lot, but it had no driver. I was the only one who knew that one of the sales mgrs at this store had an Impala, and I had simply picked that rendezvous location for its convenience, visibility etc (I'd forgotten that I flyered the car twice last winter and spoke with him on the phone).
So after we're all there, he must have looked out the door (2 hrs before opening time) and said 'what the h**l??', he came walking out and met us (uh-oh here comes the Target police again).....was AMAAAAZED at our enthusiasm and that we actually race the tu-ton sleds.
Got to the track early, but forgot to bring some cones and rope to cordon off our area, so as we all went to do time runs, others were pitting in our spots - so we then moved out to the grass area just below the showfield and wound up getting entered into the Show-N-Shine without even knowing it! Was great to see more trophy's get handed out to WAILers for this, but I'm glad I didn't hear the judge's comment (passed on to me and overheard by Michael) about my car....'this thing is dirty'.
After some organized chaos and waiting, we wound up geting our own Impala class and raced between ourselves doing ETK 'bracket racing'. It's a lot of fun because it lets everybody compete as a group no matter how slow or quick your car is.
Met Bob Adams, new WAIL member from POSSI who came down from Phila PA.... does it all..serious racing and, at the same time brings the whole family, car picnic and all. Bob ran some impressive et times considering the limited engine mods, must be that S10 torque coverter.
Mike Irving and Michael Minor came all the way up from Petersburg VA, after meeting us at the WSSP.
Another GREEEAT day for Impalers and WAILers!!! Happy Fathers Day guys. Was great to see everyone again!!
Happy SS motoring....
Ron Post
NAISSO #718/WAIL
Washington Grove MD
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
Saturday June 7, 1997 - (Was May 31,
1997)
First Annual WAIL SPRING SHOW
& PICNIC
Where: Woodward Park, Town of
Washington Grove, MD
Time: 1:00pm 'til dusk
*****WRITE-UP by Ron Post:
Well, the weather gods finally cooperated for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of NAISSO. What a great day it turned out to be for Impalaitis and family fun, on the maiden voyage of the First Annual WAIL (Washington Area Implala Lovers) SPRING SHOW & PICNIC at the Post Plantation, Woodward Park, in Washington Grove MD, on Saturday June 7.
This is an informal Car Show and Meet and a great opportunity for all WAILers, 9C1 enthusiasts, and Impala SSers to get together from an expanded NAISSO Mid-Atlantic area, to see all of the latest and wide array of Impala modifications, share stories, ask questions, meet new members and see old friends and have a great time. Some WAILers and members from surrounding chapters were not able to make it to the National Meet in Bowling Green due to the distance... this event was much closer to home and was an opportunity for all to get together in a large group.
Despite this being a one week later rescheduled rain date, we still had OVER half of the 52 signed-up cars attend! - 28 in all, on the grass!!
Most of the out-of-towners that were registered to attend didn't make it because of the rescheduled rain date - although we still had folks all the way from central PA to southern VA and everywhere in between, gathered together on the grass. This was a great way for area Impalers to get together in a large group, since many were not able to attend the national IOTG meet in BG Kentucky on 6/21.
The weather cleared and the day got
warmer, many had brought the kids and family, who were well
entertained by the expansive Woodward Park, and the good food was
available all afternoon by our distinguised chefs, two fine young
men, Michael Post and Steven Katzdorn. Many thanks to my devoted
Impaler wife Karen Post for coordinating all the Food Tent
arrangements, which turned into quite an ordeal after we wound up
having over 125 people coming (yes hon, next yr this will be a
committee effort or it'll be hired out
Much thanks and appreciation go out to all those attending - and the following sponsors and others who helped to pull this thingee off for the first time around....
Grant Boss/Victory Van Lines Corp
Tent & Grill
Ron & Karen Post/Post Siding &
Constr Inc Food - Coordinating
Chefs Michael Post & Steven Katzdorn
Hanagans II Auto Repair Dessert
Casey Katzdorn Food
Fred Diven Elec Bullhorn
Lennie D, Karl E & Chandran S WAIL
Picnic Police
Willie West Equipment set-up
Jim Fletcher WG Town maintenance
...and any one else I forgot to mention, thanks much.
Impalaitis was the prescribed fever for the day.....everyone getting to actually meet with people and see their cars, and put the email messages and addresses with a face, was the best part of the day for all. Sharing of modifications and information was our primary agenda, and many took home a new found scope of "what I want to do next", and "how to do it?, now I know" -- getting answers to specific problems and questions on not only modifications, but regular maintenance of the beassts.
The fellowship and enjoyment of meeting fellow impalers and club members from around the area seems to be a strong common bond among WAILers - everything from bone stockers to lots-O-mods, daily driver to garage queens we had 'em. But all have one thing in common - love to drive the beassts. That's the true fun of any good car club, the people..... everyone getting together for the friendship, while we all 'do it our own way' when it comes to the actual cars and personal preferences.
Most arrived between 1 and 2, some couldn't get off work early and arrived later in the day, and others had to leave early due to prior commitments - overall, sort of an afternoon 'rollin herd of Impala SS' moving on and off the showfield, next to that large grove of tall oak trees - it was a beautiful site!! All the while, 25 cars lined up in two long rows were there for the afternoon.
At our 30x40 HQ Tent we had a VCR/monitor
set up, showing the Friday the 13th Tape of the last day of
Implala production at Arlington TX on 12/13/96 -- no surprise,
that most everyone was much more interested in looking at each
other's cars
Josh Korsower's '91 9C1 6spd-conversion, which has been a few yrs in the making, built by Josh himself and his friend Seth Betaharon, was supposed to be out of the body shop by Picnic day. Since it wasn't, Seth & Josh treated us with an arrival in a retired and neat vintage 50's, 60's fire engine!!!...complete with sirens and open exhaust!!! Way cool, guys -- thanks for the 'show'.
Later in the afternoon, WAIL's own DCM LIMO (the one and only) arrived. Co-owner Wendy Kursch drove it out from it's home in Glen Burnie MD all by her lonesome. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing at the time, and dropped jaw at this magnificent beasst!! - a few of us had seen it before, but most had not. She was able to spend the rest of the afternoon with us for everyone to crawl all over and under and in it, the 110" of streched '96 Impala SS - what a sight and treat to say the least. Thanks Wendy!!! And no, she did not have to articulate over the humpback bridge, she had special directions to come in the 'back way' and avoid the bridge, although I have witnessed a same length stretch Lincoln limo navigate it (but man was it CLOSE!).
The town residents of Washington Grove (on the National Historic Registry) loved our invasion in their backyard, sort of woke the place up :>).... I heard some comments afterwards, how neat it was to have all those good looking biiiig black cars out there, "WOW! Are you guy's the POLICE??"
Sorry folks, that some of the things planned for this event didn't fully work out - the rain date goofed a lot of things up on schedules, and also, now that we have a 'virgin run' under our belt, the next one can be bigger, better, more organized (need volunteers), and even more fun than this one was. ("Before the Second one can come, there had to be a First"). This 'event' started out as a twinkle in the eye, back in December as just a way for a group of local WAILers to get together without worrying about, hey... where we all gonna park?? - well, the twinkle grew and everybody wanted to come - but the weather forecasters stole our original day, and the WSSP planning committee learned something for the next one.
As the last two cars were leaving the field around 8:00 pm, one WAILer says to another, "ya know man, you're a walking encyclopedia" -- a big ear-to-ear is cracked and a goodnight is said. Impalers and WAILers are quite a group.
SSee ya all next time!!.....Happy SS motoring.
Ron Post NAISSO #718
Event Organizer
Washington Grove MD
Mid Atlantic Chapter/WAIL
mailto:rpostss@erols.com
October 12-13, '96
Parts Plus Super Chevy Show
Petersburg, VA
Scott Hollenbeck (Beast), hollenbe@east.xsis.xerox.com
June 1, '96
Cookout at Clint's
Bowie, MD
Saturday, June 1st was the date for the first NAISSO: Mid-Atlantic Chapter meet. It took place in Bowie, MD, near the intersection of Rt. 450 & Rt. 197. The meeting place was generously donated by Clint Thompson's parents. There is an outdoor BBQ pit, plenty of parking, and a space for frisbee, etc... Bring a dish to share or help chip in for the cost of burgers, hotdogs, and drinks. Families welcome.
Clint Thompson clint@boto.netherworld.org
